Winds of Destiny - Part 1*
by Maggie2
Summary: Quistis Trepe is about to find out that although destiny can be cruel, it works in mysterious ways.....


**Winds of Destiny -- Part 1  
Written by and ©2000 Maggie Makar**  
  


All was silent and tranquil at Balamb Garden as its inhabitants went through the final routines of their day just before retiring to the soothing recess of sleep. Small murmers of speech filled the long hallways and danced in a private hush against the walls. Several moments later, the final set of lights were shut off; signalling to the cadets, SeeDs, and faculty that it was time to rest for the night. Muffled speech generally receded into soft breathing that combined with the sound of crickets to form a beautiful lullaby which echoed softly through the endless, tranquil night.   
  
By 3:00am, Balamb was calmly silent and motionless - or so it seemed. Down the hall, in her private room with her hands laying flatly and seemingly lifelessly on her mattress was Quistis Trepe. She stared blankly at the ceiling before her as if to will herself to sleep. It seemed that she had been trying to fall asleep since 10:00pm. This indeed proved to be an awful situation for her to be in since she had to wake up at 5:00am that day in order to go through her usual daily schedule. Releasing a long sigh, Quistis sat up in bed and rubbed her face lethargically, even though she was not really physically tired. As she did so, her mind searched for possible reasons that could have caused this inability to sleep.   
  
"Everything is just fine in my life right now", Quistis reasoned, "I'm an instructor again, my pupils adore me, everything is calm since Ultimecia has been defeated…" she murmered. For some odd reason, her arguments didn't seem to convince her much. With another disappointed sigh, Quistis swung her legs over the side of her bed and into her fuzzy, pink slippers. She couldn't help but smile as she did so, for she knew that all of her students, colleagues and friends would be surprised to see someone as serious and studious as her wearing such attire. With one decisive heave forward, Quistis stood up and made her way over to the door. As she reached for the doorknob, she paused to check herself. She was wearing her plain white mid-thigh cotton nightgown with her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders; definitely not a look she projected during regular Balamb hours.   
  
"Ahhh...who cares?", Quistis murmered to herself, "It's not as if someone else is awake at this un-Godly hour!", and with that, she cautiously turned the doorknob and stepped out into the hallway.   
  
Although she didn't really know why she wanted to leave her room or even where she was headed, it didn't matter because her natural inner instinct and habit seemed to be leading her by the hand. She knew deep within herself just where she would end up. Sure enough, within minutes, Quistis found herself standing in the "secret area" which had recently become very popular with the more delinquent students and lovers. It used to be that only Quistis knew about this well-hidden spot in Balamb, but its location had been discovered a little while ago, and now she was forced to share the private place where she would go to think, relax, or just to ease her emotions.   
  
The beautiful instructor breathed in the cool night air deeply as she leaned forward over the ledge of the balconey. Not far away, she could hear the soothing ripple of the ocean as its waves gently washed against the shore. Above her, the sky was clear and filled with brilliant stars. It was indeed a perfect night, and Quistis felt a long awaited sense of peace and calmness come over her restless and sleep-deprived body. "I knew this would help", Quistis mumbled softly to herself as her eyes slowly closed in a moment of true peace.   
  
Suddenly, Quistis' moment of peace was brought to an abrupt end as she felt something odd graze the back of her exposed leg. She whirled around, a sharp gasp escaping her throat in shock, and was greeted by a menacing, high-pitched growl and the salivating mouth of the training center's own Grat. "I forgot to close the door!" Quistis breathed, "how could I have been so careless?"   
  
With that, she instinctively reached for the area around her hip where her whip usually rested. However, her hand grasped only the empty air, for she once again came to realize that she was wearing only her pajama and a pair of slippers - not her usual battle uniform and weaponry. The shock was rather large, but fear did not register in the eyes or soul of this young yet seasoned SeeD veteran. "Looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way", Quistis growled between clenched teeth and fists; her eyes narrowing at the dangerous opponent.   
  
Her superior combat skills and years of SeeD training seemed to be paying off as the blood-ravenous monster swiftly whipped one of its long vines at Quistis and she easily dodged the sudden attack. This seemed to enrage Grat even more, for it increased its proximity to Quistis and went for another swing at her. Once again, Quistis evaded the strike with a nimble jump and landed directly behind Grat, planting a swift yet forceful punch on the back of its short body. A loud inhuman cry escaped the throat of the monster and he promptly responded with a sudden turn, spraying his venomous liquid at her in the process. Quistis was taken aback by this retaliation and watched in what seemed to be slow motion as she pathetically tried to sidestep the aggression. Her eyes widened in horror as the acidic poison tore through her short white sleeve and grazed the side of her perfectly toned right upper arm.   
  
"Ahhh!..." she yelled, trying to keep her voice steady so as not to arouse any of the sleeping Balamb Garden population. With her hair hanging tempestuously around her shoulders and a half-torn pajama covering her body, even death would be a welcome leisure compared to allowing another member of the Garden see her in such a state. It wasn't that she was superficial or obsessed with her physical self in any way, it was simply because she felt she had a certain image to uphold if she wanted to keep the respect of everyone at Balamb.   
  
Quistis' mind raced as the hot pain ran up and down her arm and she sat crumpled against the wall, _Grat...Grat.._ her mind scanned clumsily, _weak against...fire and...ice!_ She finally remembered. Before she could decide which of her Blue Magic spells to use, the monster had already advanced on her and wrapped its long vine around her neck, slowly tightening its grip around it and emtting all sorts of inhuman sounds of joy and pleasure.   
  
"Arghh...", Quistis growled through gritted teeth and tightly shut eyes. She was struggling with the task of loosening the moster's grip since her right arm felt as though it was simultaneously being stabbed by a 1,000 sharp knives. "Get..", Quistis struggled, "...off...of me!".   
  
Somewhere in the distance, Quistis heard a startled gasp and the familiar sound of a sword being pulled out for battle. She tried to look past Grat in order to see what was going on, but the hold that it had on her was entirely too strong and restraining. The next thing that Quistis heard was a deep, unforgiving human roar and the sound of a sword slicing through the hot skin of a monster.   
  
Quistis' relief came out in the form of deep breathing and incoherent coughing. Her eyes stung with small hot tears of release as she gently held and rubbed her now tender neck with her left hand.   
  
"My God!..." she heard a male's voice say followed by a hurried kneeling motion, "are you OK?."   
  
Slowly, the injured instructor was regaining her senses. Quistis' eyes began to focus and she quickly became much more aware of her surroundings and situation. She took a brief moment to drink in her redeemer's features. He had dark brown hair which hung loosely over his calm grey eyes, and he wore a very basic SeeD warm-up suit which basically consisted of track pants and a sweatshirt. Almost instantly, she was shocked and enraged as she noticed that her rescuer's hands rested on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes with a deep concern.   
  
"Would you get off of me?!", Quistis cried in an annoyed tone. He seemed to be surprised by this and instantly removed his hands from her shoulders, shifting back to rest on the back of his feet. "I'm sorry", he fumbled, "I didn't realize that it bothered you. I just wanted to see if you were alright. You looked like you really needed..."   
  
"Help?", Quistis finished for him in an almost mocking tone, " I didn't need you help. I could have taken that monster on my own."   
  
For the life of her, Quistis couldn't figure out why she was acting so hostile toward somebody who had practically saved her life. There was a strange sensation and feeling of familiarity burning deep within her...   
  
"It certainly didn't look that way to me!", the young man spat back with equal anger, "is this how you repay everyone who saves your life?".   
  
"You didn't save my life!", Quistis argued back, "someone sure thinks highly of themselves," she finished. Before giving him an opportunity to fire back at her, Quistis stood up abruptly, slightly wobbling, and felt entirely ashamed for allowing somebody to see her in such a demeaning state. "I will leave you to finish whatever it is that you were doing here", she said with great dignity as she took a forceful step to the door.   
  
"But..." the boy cried out, his anger instantly dying and morphing into pure concern, "your arm! It's...". He was once again unable to finish his sentence as Quistis dashed out of his sight, leaving behind nothing but an impression of a head-strong and brilliant SeeD. "...it's hurt", he said with a sigh to himself.   
  


* * * * *

  
  
Quistis listlessly dressed herself in her Instructor's uniform that morning at five. She couldn't believe that only an hour ago her entire life was dangling precariously before her. Her eyes had dark circles under them and her sleep-impoverished body moved clumsily through each motion she asked it to carry out. As soon as she had returned from that embaressing incident at the "secret area" Quistis had tried her best to mend the wound she had on her arm by thoroughly cleansing it and wrapping it in a fresh, white bandage. Slipping on her uniform shirt, Quistis was suddenly greatful for the fact that it had long sleeves.   
  
A soft and usual tapping came from Quistis' door, and she hurriedly buttoned her SeeD jacket over her body. "Quistis", came Xu's soft, familiar voice as she poked her head in, "I'll meet you for breakfast in the cafeteria in 2 minutes OK? I've got some exciting news for you too", she finished with a wink and warm smile.   
  
Quistis smiled back with equal warmness at Xu's face and said, "OK." Satisfied with the answer, Xu slowly closed the door and it clicked back into place.   
  
For once in the entire morning, Quistis let out a sigh of genuine content and happiness. She loved the daily morning ritual that her and Xu had. Ever since she could remember, Xu was her closest friend, and breakfast together in the cafeteria followed by a stroll through the gardens located near the Balamb Garden entrance had become a regular part of their daily lives. Pulling up her knee-high socks, Quistis wondered what surprise Xu could possibly have for her. "I guess I'll have to wait and see", she said to herself with a smile, "that Xu...she just loves to keep me in suspense".   
  
Minutes later, Quistis, Xu, and a few other instructors including Headmaster Cid were spread out in small groups around the Balamb Cafeteria. Quistis had a blank expression in her eyes as she mechanically brought the cup of coffee before her to her lips, and then set it down again. Xu sat across from Quistis and gave her random glances of confusion and concern as she carried on a one-sided conversation.   
  
"So then all the monkeys jumped into Zell's pants and...", Xu started teasingly. "Huh?", Quistis said, snapping back to reality, "monkeys in Zell's pants? Really?"   
  
"No, not really", Xu told her, "but I might as well just talk about that since you haven't payed attention to a thing I've said this entire morning".   
  
"Oh.." Quistis mumbled, feeling a blush creep across her face, "I'm sorry Xu," she said apologetically to the reflection of her face in her coffee cup. Looking up, she could see Xu's eyes filled with genuine care. "I just had a rough night, that's all. I didn't sleep at all."   
  
"I kind of gathered, judging by those black saucers the size of Norg's butt under your eyes", Xu told her best friend, "is there something bothering you Quisty? I'm your best friend, and you know that you can tell me anything," she assured her.   
  
"I know," Quistis said with a tiny, but genuinely greatful smile on her face, "well, I was going to tell you later, but I guess I can tell you now. It's like this..."   
  
"Quistis and Xu!," came a happy, boisterous voice that cut Quistis off from beside their table. The two girls looked up from their conversation and found themselves staring at the welcoming exterior of Headmaster Cid.   
  
"Goodmorning Headmaster Cid!", Xu greeted with a huge smile, "you certainly seem to be in a lovely mood this morning!"   
  
"I am, I am!", the chubby man replied, holding his belly as he took a moment to laugh, "today is going to be a glorious day, Xu!. But of course, you already knew that didn't you?"   
  
"Sure did!" Xu answered with equal excitement. Quistis looked at both their faces with an expression of pure confusion. She quickly came to realize that this must have been the surprise that Xu was talking about earlier that morning. "Pardon me, Headmaster", Quistis interrupted, "but may I inquire as to what you are referring to?"   
  
"Ah! Xu", I see that you haven't informed our dear Quistis of the wonderful advancement that Balamb will be making today", Cid said with false and tried disappointment in Xu.   
  
"Well, I was about to", Xu told the Headmaster, "But then you interrupted!", she teased.   
  
"Ho Ho!", Cid roared at Xu's playfulness, "well, I guess that I'll do you one better and actually SHOW Quistis what we're talking about".   
  
"Great idea Headmaster!" Xu complimented, turning to Quistis, "finish your coffee Quisty! I just know that you're going to love the surprise".   
  
"OK, OK!" Quistis said, feeling her heart's pace quicken as she allowed herself to give in to the excitement that both Xu and Cid were giving off. She hurriedly sipped the rest of her lukwarm coffee and stood up out of her chair to announce that she was prepared to see whatever it was that they had planned to show her.   
  
Quistis was now fully awake due to the adrenaline rush that had entered her body as result of the suspense produced by Xu and Cid mixed with caffeine as she stepped into the elevator which would take them to the Headmaster's office. The three members of the Balamb Garden Faculty stood in a comfortable silence. Both Xu and Cid shared knowing glances and smiles between each other as the elevator neared its destination.   
  
_Ding!_ The bell-like sound of the elevator announced their arrival. Quistis expected to see some sort of party or fireworks judging by the level of excitement she had been built up to, but was greeted only by silence, the usual blandnesss of Cid's office and the back of an unknown SeeD member.   
  
"Quistis," Headmaster Cid beamed proudly as he guided her by her back with his hand, "I'd like to introduce you to the legendary SeeD member, Keiji Locke".   
  
Quistis instantly recognized the name - it was one that had been engraved in her heart since the day she entered Balamb as a cadet. She knew the story behind the name. She knew the reputation held by the person who had the name. She knew the strength, honour and pride behind it. She knew how much she had admired that name and reputation and set her whole life and goals by it.   
  
What Quistis didn't know, and could have never in a million years guessed, was that the face behind the name was that of the boy who had rescued her from certain death earlier that morning in the "secret area".   
  


TO BE CONTINUED...


End file.
